01 Raindrops
by Mahokishi Reiasu
Summary: Anime Based. Edited to make it really only "One-Shot". Lantis' memories about Hikaru, takes time after the abolishment of the Pillar System.


**Author's Note:** If you wish to skip the "FOREWORD" (text in italics and centered), which contains the explanation and organization for the use of the original names in the Japanese Rômaji for the series in the Anime and Manga. Just scroll down and go to the story. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks a lot ^_^!

**Disclaimer: **Magic Knight Rayearth belongs partially and/or wholly to the property of the CLAMP group. This story is an amateur work, with neither nonprofit nor literary purposes.

_**FOREWORD**_

_In the attempt to remain faithful to the original names granted to the characters of the incredible story "Magic Knight Rayearth" made by CLAMP; the author of this Fanfic decided to make use of the equivalent names of the Japanese Rômaji that were given to the different characters of the Manga and the Anime; as well as to use the original Japanese version of "planets" and not "countries" in reference of the foreign invaders' origins during the second and last part of the story. What eventually leaded her to decide to remain true to the Rômaji, was the various mixes in which said names are found throughout the hundreds and fabulous Fanfics written by several authors in Japanese, English, and Spanish languages among others._

_In the hope that for the reader this will not cause too much confusion, the following list shows the names and titles that each of the several characters used in the genre in which he/she participated (Manga/Anime):_

_**Manga**_

_English-Title_

_**Romaji-Gedai**_

_Hikaru Shidou-Magic Knight_

_**Hikaru Shidô-Majikku Naito**_

_Fuu Hououji-Magic Knight_

_**Fû Hôôji-Majikku Naito**_

_Umi Ryouuzaki-Magic Knight_

_**Umi Ryûzaki-Majikku Naito**_

_Cephiro_

_**Sefîro**_

_Magic Knight Rayearth_

_**Mahôkishi Reiâsu**_

_Rayearth-Rune God (Fire)_

_**Reiâsu-Mashin (Enjin)**_

_Windam-Rune God (Air)_

_**Windamu-Mashin (Kûshin)**_

_Selece-Rune God (Water)_

_**Seresu-Mashin (Kaijin)**_

_Mokona-Creator_

_**Mokona**_

_Zagato-Sol_

_**Zagâto-Soru**_

_Emeraude-Princess_

_**Emerôdo-Hime**_

_Clef-Guru_

_**Kurefu-Gurû**_

_Ferio-Swordsman_

_**Ferio-Kenshi**_

_Presea-Mastersmith/Armorer_

_**Puresea-Fârl**_

_Askot-Summoner_

_**Asukotto-Pâlu**_

_Kardina-Illusionist/Dancer_

_**Karudîna**_

_Lafarga-Swordmaster_

_**Rafâga-Dâl**_

_Alcyione-Sorceress_

_**Arushiône-Île**_

_Lantis-Magic Swordsman (Sorcerer + Swordmaster)_

_**Rantisu-Caîl (Île + Dâl)**_

_Primera-Fairy_

_**Purimera-Pîxie**_

_Autozam_

_**Ôtozamu**_

_NSX Battleship_

_**Senkan NSX**_

_FTO-Mecha_

_**FTO-Meka**_

_GTO-Mecha_

_**GTO-Meka**_

_Eagle Vision_

_**Îguru Bishôn**_

_Geo Metro_

_**Jeo Metoro**_

_Zazu Torque_

_**Zazu Toruku**_

_Chizeta_

_**Chizêta**_

_Bravata Fortress_

_**Idô Yôsai**_

_Rakun-Guardian Spirit_

_**Rakun-Djinn**_

_Rashin-Guardian Spirit_

_**Rashin-Djinn**_

_Tarta_

_**Tâta (Younger Sister)**_

_Tatra_

_**Tatora (Older Sister)**_

_Fahren_

_**Fâren**_

_Dreamchild Movil Fortress_

_**Dreamchild**__**Dômu**_

_Aska_

_**Asuka**_

_Sang Yung_

_**Sanyun**_

_Chang Ang_

_**Chanan**_

_Satoru_

_**Satoru**_

_Masaru_

_**Masaru**_

_Kakeru_

_**Kakeru**_

_Rio_

_**Kû**_

_**Anime**_

_(This list shows only those characters that did not appear in the Manga and/or those titles that changed in the Anime. The missing ones remained the same as in the Manga)_

_English/Title_

_**Rômaji/Gedai**_

_Zagato-High Priest_

_**Zagâto-Shinkan**_

_Clef-Mastermage_

_**Kurefu-Dôshi**_

_Ascot-Summoner_

_**Asukotto-Shôkanshi**_

_Caldina-Illusionist_

_**Karudîna-Genwakushi**_

_Lafarga-Swordmaster_

_**Rafâga-Kentôshi**_

_Alcyione-Sorceress_

_**Arushiône-Masôshi**_

_Lantis-Magic Swordsman_

_**Rantisu-Mahôkenshi**_

_Sierra-Armorer_

_**Shiera-Sôshi**_

_Mira_

_**Mirâ**_

_Debonair_

_**Debonea**_

_Nova_

_**Nova**_

_Regalia-Rune God_

_**Regaria-Mashin**_

_Inouva_

_**Inôba**_

_Kuu_

_**Kû**_

* * *

**Source: **Anime (includes just a brief idea mentioned in the Manga).

**Romaji - English: **Uteki - Raindrops

**Uteki**

Through one of the beautiful large windows of the palace, a pretty and feminine face was observing the outside. This face usually wears an affable gesture. In this occasion however, the forehead reveals a small frown while watching the exterior land. The lady was trying to answer something to herself that only her mind can contemplate while her eyes keep studying the present climatology state of the planet.

It was not that such weather was new to the habitants of the magical land. As of many years ago they've witnessed (most of them for the first time then), this kind of natural manifestations. Therefore, the current condition was not new to her either.

The "I dream of Jeannie" hairstyle brunette had concluded that this climate which at the beginning seemed to be a coincidence was far for being one. After Debonea's fall, it was unusual to witness this event. Nonetheless, as time passed, she, as well as the rest of the population have got used to these events from time to time. Her fellow civilians took it as "part-of-the-planet's-natural-weather". Nevertheless, she did not agree with this hypothesis because she noticed that two were the constant factors every time:

1. The present weather was NEVER manifested while certain individual was absent from the planet.

2. Same individual ALWAYS witnessed such climate in the outside: static and looking at the sky.

She was certain that he willed it. His willpower was strong enough to outdo those of the rest of the Sefîrans to accomplish it. And if someone dared to doubt her, she had reliable sources to prove her statement!

In one occasion (and following the same order), her dear friend Karudîna had told her in the dining room. That Rafâga had let her known in her bedroom. That Kurefu had informed him in his study. That Mokona had revealed to him in the throne room that (we'll quote the Master Mage's words for the simple reason that if we use the bouncing creature's ones we would obtain a whole sentence of plain Puu's):

- "Mahôkenshi Rantisu possesses the strongest will of all natives of Sefîro still alive. Only Shinkan Zagâto's equaled his, and Emerodo-hime's alone exceeded theirs. If he'd had entered the Crown Room prior to the coming of the Otozamu commander and the Magic Knight of Fire. He would have been chosen as the new Pillar of Sefîro".

In other words: Due to the painful events of Emerôdo's, Zagâto's, and Îguru's premature demises and of Hikaru's long and uncertain absence. Rantisu currently owned the strongest will in all the land of Sefîro. So, clearer than the raindrops falling at the moment couldn't be. _He willed the damn rain!_ (The armorer decided!)

Therefore, she was not curious to know whom or what generated it. Her frown was of mere intrigue to identify "his" motivation to will this type of weather. Rain was usually a manifestation of fear, sadness, or depression. Nonetheless, the rains that have taken place after the last battle have a melancholic mood in them… a rather nostalgic nature.

- It seems that Mahôkenshi Rantisu has returned from Ôtozamu… - commented the mage with lilac-colored-hair approaching. His comment took her out of her inner dialogues - …Hello Puresea, are you admiring the rainfall that his will grants us once again?

_Excellent!_ The armorer thought for herself. Without knowing, Dôshi Kurefu gave her the perfect opportunity to satisfy her intrigue after listening to his last sentence. If Dôshi Kurefu didn't not know the reason of that persistent preference, then only the mysterious and introvert Magic Swordsman knew. At least in Sefîro, the supreme Dôshi was the only person who could boaster about knowing Rantisu since child, and that consisted in many, many years! Thus, Sôshi Puresea allowed herself to ask him openly.

- Kurefu, can you tell me why he likes rain so much? What motivates him to will it?

- You don't like rain Puresea? - he inquired, noticing the frustration in the young woman's voice.

- No, it's not that… - she assured him - …at the beginning was odd to see this happening with Sefîro being in perfect harmony. But to be honest, I enjoy variety.

- Me too… - smiled the mage to her - …a climatologic change isn't bad from time to time.

- But do you think he does it just because of that? I mean, look at him… - she pointed her eyes towards the obscure silhouette in the far distance, whose face was contemplating the cloud releasing its raindrops above him - …it's always the same. He stands outside, raises his head up to the sky and allows the rain to soak him. Why? - she questioned again turning her head towards the mage.

- I would be lying if I tell you that I know what his true reasons are. I can only guess. Rantisu is a very discreet man when it comes to his feelings. I guess that's why he tries to express them through natural manifestations and not through words or emotions.

- But then… does it mean that he's feeling melancholy? - asked Puresea, remembering the last thought that crossed her mind when thinking about rain and its possible meanings.

- I believe so… - the mage admitted - …but why are you so surprised Puresea? It's not unknown to anyone that Rantisu was placed in a very difficult position when Zagâto and Emerôdo fall in love with each other.

- Yeah I know - Shiera was the one who answered this time recalling the true Puresea. She had also lost a sister in that legend.

- Although, I have to admit that I never imagined how drastic his attitude would become … - Puresea's substitute sent him a confused glance. The Master Mage smiled again - …well you see. He's always been discreet and reserved regarding his persona. Ever since kid his eyes showed a tint of mystery, which with age, experiences, and the course of time, that "tint" has increased to a vast amount. But that impassive attitude of his that now everyone sees wasn't always like that.

- No? How was it then?... - there was something in the mage's voice that made her want to know more. Dôshi Kurefu was unconsciously sharing moments from his past with her. Granted, the subject matter was about someone else but it included things that he had witnessed himself, and that alone increased the armorer's curiosity.

- Well… - a nostalgic grimace appeared on his face at the memory of his infant student - …he was very curious. He always came to me with the most complex questions for his age. Some of those questions required me several hours in the library to answer them properly. It was as if his mind was in constant hunger for knowledge and all its details. He was restless, rebellious, and mischievous. Out of the two, Rantisu was the one harder for me to manage; and Zagâto was a hard one already.

The armorer looked at him skeptic.

- You're describing a Rantisu who's hard for me to imagine.

- Really?... - an eyebrow popped up in his face and now he was the one wearing an skeptic look towards the brunette - …if you observe him carefully. You'll realize that he still comprises all those aspects. He simply manages them better now.

Puresea meditated shortly afterwards:

_Curious?... well yes, she knows him to be curious: Hadn't it been Rantisu who had rescued the last civilians of Sefîro in his curiosity to check the conditions of the land during the Debonea era?_

_Restless?... yes that too: Didn't he spend his time traveling not only from place to place but from planet to planet none stopping?_

_Rebellious?... yes somehow: Hadn't he abandoned Sefîro rebelling himself against his natal planet, against his family, and even against his responsibility as Emerôdo-hime's personal protector?_

_Mischievous?... That's the one that didn't fit him!… well, no. Thinking better of it, the Magic Swordsman was indeed a little mischievous: Didn't he 'prescribe' them a downpour every time he damn wished it!_

- You're right… - she finally agreed - …it seems that as hard as we may try, we'll never be able to suppress our true nature - the brunette honestly admitted.

- Precisely!... - the mage rewarded - …he and Zagâto had incredible potentials. Since the first time I laid eyes on them. I noticed their auras older than their actual age. And incredible were their actions and the decisions that shaped their destinies. No matter how you see it, if these were for good or bad. They were nonetheless incredible deeds.

_Well, well._ The armor thought directing her eyes to the intriguing man's silhouette. _If you ever come back and if the love that you once felt for him is still alive, then I'll have lots to tell you about your hermetic knight. _

* * *

_Hikaru… _

He called her in his mind, trying to visualize her face as raindrops fell on his features, soothing just a little bit the melancholy that her long absence brought. Unaware was Rantisu, that at the moment a conversation was being held in one of the palace halls by two individuals trying to decipher his motives for willing the rain. Both individuals were far to realize that his true and only reason was a redheaded girl who had shared this "damn downpour" with him in the past.

_How much he wanted to wrap her with his cape once again! How much he wanted to listen to her voice once again! How much he wanted to look at her eyes once again!_

Years passed and passed and she had not returned… He'd wait for her that was more than settled. Not because of a promise he'd had made to her, no. There hadn't been enough time to do even that. His decision consisted in the fact that his heart wouldn't get back into his chest; and until she returned bringing his hearth back to him he couldn't feel what she made him feel.

The problem now was that with the course of time, her image in his mind diffused more and more… and that frustrated him. Not for fear to forget her that was impossible. There were a lot of things that reminded him of her:

Birds, bonfires, the dawn, the native flowers of Sefîro, Mirâ, the patient and waiting sword in the topmost tower of the castle, the independence of his land, his missing heart, and even Mokona; whom among the rest was the only creature brave enough to stand beside him the rainfall Rantisu enjoyed so much. Granted, the bone-like creature buried himself in between the swordsman's boots to get as wetless as possible… _Mokona, he missed her too. Would that be the reason why they both took refugee with each other once Reiâsu's knight returned to her natal world?_

- Puu - sounded from the floor as to assert what the Magic Swordsman has just mentally questioned.

Rantisu briefly glanced between his boots to grant the little creature (who at the moment had his ears pulled back), a small, very small smile (Thus was the way he smiled ⌐ ⌐')

- When will we see her again Mokona? When? - he breathed in and cast his face to the sky again, releasing the air from his lungs. He closed his eyes and concentrated his attention in the images his brain was trying to project. Little by little as if this was a daily exercise, his mind started to revive the moments, the circumstances, and the decisions that brought him to her…

* * *

_Had he done the right thing_? But if not then_, what could had he done? _And if so then_, why did he feel so empty and unfulfilled?_

He was going thru the lowest phase of his life, hanging amongst the cruel reality of a tragedy and the difficult struggle within his own conscience, of becoming the partisan deserter of his mother planet, and of his family blood. After so long, he returned with the intention to assist with at least "something". He was living that stage when she arrived. Without notice, without announcement… she simply arrived. Furthermore, like a faithful guide she walked him through a different road, like an intruder she invaded him with a new feeling, and like a judge she sentenced him to the end of his bitterness, saving him from desolation.

_How? Where? When? Why?... _in the middle of a planetary crisis. There, she crossed his path every time.

It was unusual from the beginning. Her authentic concern about someone she didn't even know took him by surprise when he made contact with her for the first time. In that occasion, when without warning she took his injured hand between her own to request her friend to heal it. Ignoring that the warm temperature of her small palms surrounding his cold and large hand had already started healing him even before Purimera cast her magic.

_Yes… he saw her there._

Then in the middle of the night, she showed up when he was with Mirâ. Voluntarily, she decided to accompany them to the residential quarters. It was impossible to ignore her charisma when she interacted with Mirâ. Even when saying bye to the little kid she waved her arm as if making signs to an oversea cruse from the highest hill of a deserted island.

_Yes… he noticed her there._

Suddenly, they found themselves alone and the charisma turned to pain and regret. With those eyes of the color of dusk, she confessed being the executioner of his elder brother. She requested retribution exclusively against her, and pleaded exoneration towards her companions. Unknowingly, she revealed her personal lonely nights of crying and sadness. Bitter was to realize that the same tragedy that anguished him had also taken away this girl's childhood. Physically she had the body of a child, even when the first brushes of puberty were drawn here and there the body belonged to that of a young girl. But those same dusked-eyes revealed him the true identity behind her physical body: that of a spirit forced to increase its karma due to an ancient legend. The small girl's remorse overwhelmed his own, he had deserted the same mission abandoning his land and brother to their fate…she, she had assassinated two individuals of good heart who had only infringed in feeling love mutually.

_Yes… he observed her there as well._

Then, as if nothing was odd enough, she approached him one time and requested his company to venture on what was left of Sefîro in an attempt to find the "possible Pillar". _Ironic wasn't it? Who would have told them that such Pillar was herself?_ During that excursion, he witnessed her to become Ôtozamu's prisoner. He watched her fight bravely against his best friend. He saw her trying to persuade Îguru to give up the confrontation. He stared at her shining and tiny in the middle of _**raindrops**_ when she innocently asked him: _"Rantisu… did you ever feel real lonely being by yourself like that?"_ From that moment on, rain became his favorite scenario.

_Yes… he definitely stared at her THERE._

_How did he know he love her? _In reality he never knew it, he just merely felt it.

When he held her unconscious in his arms, when she touched his face, when he felt her hands. He experienced a different but pleasant warmth… it felt as if that was the natural bond of their bodies.

_Yes… those times he was pleased with her._

When Îguru kidnapped her, he felt he betrayed the trust she'd given him by making him his escort during that excursion. He felt like failing to someone too pure. Someone he was starting to care about.

_Yes… that time he was concerned for her._

In the fountain, when the girl didn't remember her earlier love confession, he experienced an unknown disappointment. That feeling showed him (much to his grief) that he had actually liked the idea of being loved by her… _Disillusionment,_ yes that was it, because his cold and untamable mind had deliberately built up one (perhaps small) but constant hope after hearing the girl's words before she lost consciousness.

_Yes… that time he built up hopes._

The worst came when her life force was disappearing while reviving her sword with Sôshi Puresea. He felt fear, anxiety of not feeling her again. His first reaction was of pain, and although he knew that perhaps he would accomplish nothing, he started running in order to reach her, to find her, to help her. Something inside him was agonizing.

_Yes… that time he needed her._

_"I'm sorry, but I….love you"_ was her final stab. If her previous actions had not melted the ice of his indifference that sentence alone was the icebreaker that finally disintegrated it completely, forcing him to admit that he indeed, had feelings for her…

* * *

Still standing in the outside and soaked by the rainfall, he allowed himself just a couple of more minutes to swirl in her remembrance. He bent down on one knee and took Mokona in his arms; he then stood up and sent a last glance to the twilight over the landscape.

Amongst all the humans of Sefîro, she was the only one who did not considered him a traitor, because even his master Kurefu doubted him. He didn't blame them really. He understood their reasons of suspicion. _But she… far from mistrusted him she offered him love and taught him love._ Not any king of love, not the love a mother feels for a son, or a sister feels for a brother, or a girlfriend for a boyfriend. Not even the love a woman feels for a man. The love that surged inside her and consequently surged inside him had no sex, age, or social name. It was the love a soul feels for another soul, when the original cell created by the Absolute and separated in the beginning of times, coincides in one of the many "adventures of life" awaiting for that ultimate encounter.

_How incredible is the power of love!… As the flora opens its path through the thickest concrete in the streets, as the fauna obeys the Principle of Generation even between different species. Love filters itself even in situations of major desperation._

_"A Romance" _That's what had expelled him out of Sefîro in the first place, and that's what he had least expected to find at his return. Even less… _HIS romance_… and it was precisely that premature romance that made him wish to remain in Sefîro, to see her return and hence finish uniting their spirits as the individual cell that they were; feeding that romance. Although he was honoring Îguru Bishôn's sacrifice in Ôtozamu, his definite home would be Sefîro. Because if she'd come back, she would come back here.

_And he would be waiting for her… _(Right?)


End file.
